It was so exciting on Thursday to see the return of 30(05)! She is a very well-known and much-loved bird, not least because she is the only one who’s movements we can follow! And follow her we have. We have been with 30 through every step of her arduous northwards migration this season, worrying about the weather, her slow progress, and hoping that she would make it home ok. It may have taken her more than twice as long as last season, but make it she did, and we are over the moon to have her back. It was even more exciting that her first port of call was Manton Bay!

30(05) on the Manton Bay nest

We have charted 30’s journey all the way from her wintering grounds in Senegal, right back to Rutland. She left her spot on the Senegalese coast on 10th March, and 24 days later, on 2nd April, she arrived in Rutland. Below is a table that outlines the distance she travelled on each day of her migration, and the hours she spent migrating each day.

Day

Date

Distance (km)

Distance (miles)

Time migrating

Total hours

1

10th March

226

140

10:00 – 19:00

9

2

11th March

269

167

08:00 – 19:00

11

3

12th March

228

142

10:00 – 19:00

9

4

13th March

194

120

10:00 – 19:00

9

5

14th March

197

122

07:00 – 19:00

12

6

15th March

210

130

07:00 – 21:00

14

7

16th March

301

187

06:00 – 21:00

15

8

17th March

287

178

06:00 – 19:00

13

9

18th March

744

462

07:00 – 22:00

15

10

19th March

283

176

06:00 – 19:00

13

11

20th March

329

204

08:00 – 19:00

11

12

21st March

327

203

07:00 – 21:00

14

13

22nd March

242

150

06:00 – 16:00

10

14

23rd March

153

95

08:00 – 15:00

7

15

24th March

72

45

09:00 – 14:00

5

16

25th March

223

138

06:00 – 18:00

12

17

26th March

236

147

07:00 – 17:00

10

18

27th March

139

86

07:00 – 16:00

9

19

28th March

70

43

11:00 – 14:00

3

20

29th March

164

102

05:00 – 15:00

10

21

30th March

129

80

08:00 – 15:00

7

22

31st March

–

–

–

–

23

1st April

288

180

08:00 – 19:00

11

24

2nd April

99

61

05:00 – 12:00

7

As you can see from the table, there were days when 30 didn’t travel very far at all, and on 31st March she did not go anywhere, and sensibly stayed where she was on the River Bresle in France. This was due to the atrocious weather conditions that she had to contend with. On the other hand, there were a few days where 30 made quite good progress, such as on 18th March where she travelled 744km (462 miles) in one day.

During her 24 days of migration, 30 covered a total of 5,405km (3,358 miles). Her average distance per day was 225km (139 miles). 30 spent 236 hours on the wing during this year’s migration. This is out of the 576 hours that her migration took her in total.

30(05) returning to Rutland on 2nd April

As Tim said, we do not know what 30 will do now. It is exciting to see her back, and also to speculate on what might happen next. Of course, it can only be speculation, because there is no way to predict what the Ospreys will do! We had thought 28(10) might stick around in Manton Bay and claim it as his territory, however we have not seen him in the Bay for a few days. The thought crossed our minds that 30 might decide to breed in Manton Bay, as her nest last year failed and she does not have a partner. Perhaps if 28 had still been around on Thursday, 30 might have stayed. As it was, she did not return here after she left to go fishing.

Another poser is whether Maya will return this year. Could it be that in two consecutive years we have lost both of the pair from Manton Bay who bred here for four years? 5R(04)’s failure to return last season was a heavy blow, and the thought that we may have lost Maya this year will be a hard fact to handle.

We are hopeful that, should Maya fail to return, 30 or another female could take over her position as breeding female in Manton Bay. 33(11) may also be on his way back, and we know he thinks this nest is his! Therefore he will almost certainly be resident in Manton Bay, and his presence will encourage a female to stay and breed.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do except wait, with mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety!